Reciprocal Citizenship: Settling into the Responsibilities of Living on Indigenous Lands

• Main Author: Bodnaresko, Sulyn
• Other Authors: Poitras Pratt, Yvonne, Lacerda-Vandenborn, Elisa M., Domene, José F., Gereluk, Dianne T., Chung, Stan Sae-Hoon
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Werklund School of Education 2024
• Subjects: Reciprocal citizenship; Settler-colonialism; TRC 94 Calls to Action; Transformative learning; Reconciliatory education; Citizenship education; Newcomer-settler and established-settler responsibilities; Education > Adult and Continuing; Canada; Newcomer; Nakoda
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1880/119664

This study examined newcomer-settler citizenship as a personal and scholastic response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 94. With the guidance of Indigenous principles, including relationality, respect, interconnectedness, and reciprocity, I engaged with newcomer-settlers and Indigenous peoples working in the immigration and settlement sector to consider, “How can I be the best relative that I can be, and learn from others, while living on these Blackfoot, Stoney Nakoda, Tsuut’ina, and Métis lands that my settler-colonial family and I call home?” This Indigenist, interpretative, mixed methods research study has helped me to more fully understand the costs paid by Indigenous peoples to support my standard of living and comfort on these lands. Through relationships and this research process, I have also come to recognize an ethical and decolonizing way of being—called reciprocal citizenship—whereby non-Indigenous peoples can challenge settler-colonialism’s inherent oppression by centering Indigenous truths, dignity, and liberty in their thoughts, actions, and words. Reciprocal citizenship is about the ethical acts of giving back for the gifts of living on these lands, and seven actions revealed through this study include: respecting Indigenous-settler relationships; critically self-reflecting on oppression in Canada; acknowledging one’s own moves to innocence and comfort; seeking to learn; growing settler-colonial awareness; imagining shared futures; and actioning personal responsibilities that are guided in relationship with Indigenous peoples, knowledge systems, and the land. Reciprocal citizenship brings together citizenship education, transformative learning, and reconciliatory education. It asks both newcomer-settlers and established-settlers to step into their citizenship responsibilities, so that all can live in mutual respect and flourish on these lands that that we now call Canada.